


Limerence

by pequinessa



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Proposal!AU, mentions of Doyoung, mentions of Taeyong - Freeform, side JohnYong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 02:27:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15014636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pequinessa/pseuds/pequinessa
Summary: Yuta doesn't need a ring to love Jaehyun. Really. He is fine. He doesn't care that his boyfriend does not want to get married. It's not as if that had been Yuta's dream since he was a child.Really.It was fine.(Or maybe Yuta was just lying to himself.)





	Limerence

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all go blame Edie and her tweet.

The day had started quite terribly, the alarm ran out of battery so it didn’t go off on time, the coffee machine broke down and one of his furry patients had died right in his arms. Yuta knew Nam was quite old; after all, the German Shepard had actually been one of his first patients. The dog was going to turn 15 in three months.

Yuta couldn't stop the tears that welled in his eyes when he informed Nam's family his heart had finally given out. Nam's owners were an old couple and their grown-up children, the Woo's. Actually, Yuta was well acquainted with the family since he had been their vet when the Woos moved into the neighbourhood; the family almost treated him like another member of their clan.

The couple just hugged Yuta, cheeks stained with tears. It was a bit embarrassing since it seemed they were trying to console Yuta when it should have been the other way round. The Woo's told him that it was fine and that Nam had lived a happy life thanks to his affectionate vet.

Of course, such tender wonders had only managed to make Yuta cried harder. He knew he was too soft-hearted, and although his professors back in university had said that having a little empathy was never wrong, Yuta tended to get too involved with his animal friends. How could he not? Animals were, in Yuta’s humble opinion, the best thing ever. They were innocent creatures who only knew how to reciprocate love.

It was during times like these that Yuta hated his job. Being a vet mostly brought him great pain, but the moment a loving family embraced him, happy tears in their eyes, and thanked him for saving their pet, Yuta told himself that all the heartbreak was worth it.

However, at the moment he was finding it hard to reminiscence about all the good things associated with his line of work. After waving the Woo's goodbye, he had told Jaemin, his new employee, he would go out for a while to buy lunch.

Jamin was a very passionate young man, fresh out of the university. Unfortunately, his employee seemed to have Yuta's worst trait as a vet as well: he was way too caring. The moment something went wrong with one of the animals Jaemin was taking care of, he would panic and call Yuta almost immediately.

He wasn’t sure how much of a great idea it had been to hire Jaemin since the two of them were absolutely hopeless when it came to dealing with grief. It was quite counterproductive, too, that whenever one of them started tearing up, the other was sure to follow shortly after. Yuta, nonetheless, always felt reassured by Jaemin’s presence and empathy, and he wasn’t sure he could have worked with anyone less sensitive.

The cold breeze that welcomed Yuta as soon as he stepped outside the vet reminded him that winter had definitely arrived. Quickly, he hid his hands in his pockets, and vapour came out of his mouth like smoke when he sighed heavily.

He made his ways towards his favourite sandwich place only a couple of blocks away, but before entering he couldn’t help but gaze expectantly towards the jewellery shop on the other side of the street.

Rissing & Lawrence was a popular jewellery shop in the city, and Yuta could see why; the pieces of jewellery that were sold were unique. All items were handmade by the owners and although it wasn’t a big shop nor did it have any other branches, the pieces crafted by the jewellers were so exquisite, the tiny place was always buzzing with people.

It was Johnny who had shown him the shop in the first place. Yuta’s friend had asked him for his assistance as he was thinking about getting married and needed someone’s honest opinion on the ring he had chosen for Taeyong. Yuta, an extreme romantic at heart, had agreed excitedly right away.

The first time he had entered the shop, Yuta was surprised by how lovely all the pieces of jewellery were. The owners also attended to customers, an old couple of foreigners who clearly knew their way around precious stones. The rings Johnny had chosen were simply wonderful. Since Taeyong was a minimalist, the gemstone was a small and shiny ruby, and the bands were made of white gold. Yuta even teared up a little when he saw them. God, they were beautiful. He had told Johnny so and hugged the life out of his taller friend.

The owners had been so endeared by the reaction they even asked Johnny and Yuta when their wedding was. The couple of friends just laughed and explained that they were just close friends and that Johnny was to marry someone else while Yuta had his own boyfriend. The foreigner’s eyes shone with interest at the piece of information and asked Yuta if he too, would like to see some rings.

Yuta flushed, rapidly reading between the lines and tried not to look into Johnny’s worried eyes. He felt his throat drying up, and God, it was such a good opportunity he couldn’t simply say no despite being painfully aware of his situation.

_“I’d love to.”_

He had answered, ignoring Johnny’s soft warning of _Yuta_. He had smiled confidently and told his friend it was okay, he was just curious to see other rings. Of course, Johnny hadn’t believed him at all, but luckily for Yuta, he didn’t press any longer and just humoured him.

All of the engagement rings the couple had shown him were beautiful, they were all quite unique and none of them was even remotely similar. Yuta could feel his heart beating like crazy at the sight of such stunning creations.

Among the many choices, there was one particular ring that called his attention almost immediately. He couldn’t help his hand from softly reaching out to the ring. The owners, without missing a beat, took the ring out of the velvety pouch and handed it to Yuta.

“Ah, excellent choice, young man. This is also one of our favourites, beautiful, isn’t it?” The woman said, smiling affectionately. “Diamonds are really popular, but not many go for the pear shape.” Yuta took the ring into his hands, admiring how the shiny precious stone deflected the light of the shop. “This beautiful ring features a shimmering strand of pavé diamonds entwined with a lustrous ribbon of white gold.”

“Would you like to try it?” The man asked politely with a smile.

Yuta looked up to the owner, eyes widening in alarm.

_No._

“It’s okay, I was just looking.” He answered quickly, giving back the ring. “Thank you. It’s a beautiful ring.”

The man took the ring back and nodded, “It is. Maybe you can come back later and try it on with your fiancé.”

Yuta had to refrain from snorting.

“Maybe,” he conceded, smiling weakly.

After buying Taeyong’s ring, the duo of friends had thanked the couple and left.

“Yuta,” Johnny began, eyebrows furrow with worry, “you know-”

“It’s fine, Johns. You don’t have to say anything. I was just being silly. Let’s just go home, please?”

Johnny had sighed, dropping the topic.

It was fine. Yuta was in a happy committed relationship with the man of his dreams. Jaehyun loved him and that was all that mattered. They lived happily together with a crazy but affectionate oversized puppy, and nothing made Yuta happier.

Not all couples got married. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Yuta didn’t need an engagement ring to prove to the world Jaehyun made him the happiest man alive. He clearly didn’t need one. It was fine. _Really._

However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t fantasize about the idea, right?

The owners of Rissing & Lawrence had put his ring out for display, so Yuta had taken to checking on the ring every once in a while from the window. He was just curious to see if some happy couple would buy the ring. It was a beautiful ring after all. It wouldn’t be strange if it was quickly sold.

  
Nonetheless, every time Yuta gathered enough courage to go take a look at the shop, the ring was still there, glimmering prettily under the shop’s lamp. Given it was made of white gold and diamonds, the ring was a bit pricey. However, Yuta had seen simpler rings sold at competitors for almost twice the price of the Rissing & Lawrence’s one.

Seeing the ring there on the display, unsold, made Yuta strangely happy. It wasn’t as if he was going to buy it anytime soon, so he truly didn’t know why he felt his usual knots of anxiety dissolve whenever he took a quick look at the diamond ring.

He took it as a sign. Yuta knew he was being plain stupid but he felt like the ring hadn’t been sold because of some odd reason. A reason related to him. And although he knew it was futile, the ring gave him hope. Baseless hope, that he knew. But, he wasn’t hurting anyone in thinking the ring actually belonged to him, right? It was just a silly fantasy that made his day a little better.

Hence, after checking that his ring was still on display, he nodded to himself with a satisfied grin, already feeling his mood picking up.

Jaemin had stopped crying by the moment Yuta arrived back at the vet’s office, with chicken sandwiches in one hand and raspberry cookies in another. His employee clearly perked up at the sight of said cookies and rapidly took them away from Yuta.

“Thank you, I really needed one of these” Jaemin thanked him, flinching when Yuta flicked him on the forehead.

“Those are for after we have lunch, so don’t you dare eat one now.” Jaemin whined but Yuta just extended his hand, asking for the bag back. The younger boy just pouted and handed it back, taking the sandwich that Yuta was offering him instead.

Yuta chuckled at his employee’s dejected face and patted him affectionately on the head.

“Don’t look so down, Jaemin. We’ll eat them later. You’ve worked hard today.”

“You, too, boss.” Jaemin mocked him, knowing how much Yuta hated being called that.

“Shut up before I eat all the cookies by myself.”

“Sorry.”

 

{-}

 

“How was work, baby?” Yuta asked from the couch when he saw Jaehyun entering their apartment. Aiko perked up when he heard his other owner’s voice, rapidly scrambling out of Yuta’s arm in order to greet him.

“Tiring. We have this couple getting married next month and I swear, the groom is picky as hell. I was two seconds away from telling the poor bride to pick some other guy who doesn’t think broccoli and shrimps don’t look aesthetically enough.” Jaehyun sighed but immediately smiled when Aiko ran towards him. When the German Shepherd barked playfully at him, Jaehyun bent down to pick him up and brought it to the couch with Yuta.

“Did you take good care of your father, Aiko?” He asked, laughing quietly when the dog tried to lick at his face. “Such a good boy,” he praised him, scratching behind his ears.

“Are you feeling better? You sounded really sad on the phone.” Jaehyun leaned over and kissed Yuta hello, quickly separating when he heard their dog barking. “Don’t be jealous, let me kiss your father in peace.”

Yuta just giggled, endeared by Jaehyun and Aiko’s interactions.

“I’m alright, thanks for asking. Better, since you’re here now.” The Japanese man then rested his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder and grabbed his hand. Jaehyun rolled his eyes at Yuta’s cheesiness but squeezed his hand nonetheless.

The couple laid there on the couch, cuddling with Aiko, who had fallen asleep on Jaehyun at some point and was snoring lightly. Not wanting to wake their pup up, Jaehyun and Yuta talked about their days in a hushed tone, silently cooing at how adorable their dog was.

Yuta felt the heaviness in his heart slowly drain away with each of Jaehyun’s pecks to his temple, with every little sound Aiko made in his sleep; Nam’s passing away was now just a melancholic thought rather than a heart wrenching one. He was always amazed at how easy it was for his boyfriend and dog to pick up his mood, to soothe him. It never took too long for Yuta to forget every little bad thing about his day whenever he was in their presence. It worked better than any other balm on his easily bruised heart.

Sleepiness had started to take over Yuta, who could no longer fight the weight of that day’s events. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in Jaehyun’s scent of spices and aftershave.

“Yuta, I’ll go an make something real quick for dinner, before you completely fall asleep on me, okay? You should eat before sleeping.” Jaehyun caressed his boyfriend’s hair and smiled when he shook his head.

“No, don’t leave, you’re warm,” Yuta whined. Jaehyun just laughed at his boyfriend’s clinginess and lifted Aiko off of his chest carefully. He stood up and Yuta let out a little grunt when he felt his source of warmth and comfort slipped away. He threw an annoyed look at Jaehyun and shifted his body on the couch, ready to fall asleep once again.

Jaehyun just shook his head and asked Yuta to make some room for Aiko. The petite man, with his eyes still closed, opened his arms silently asking for his pup. Aiko was still sleepy so the moment Jaehyun laid him on Yuta’s arms, he went back to sleep.

Yuta made a little content smile and buried his nose on Aiko’s fur, breathing in the lingering smell of him. Jaehyun took his phone out and quickly snapped a picture of the sleeping duo.

After a little while, Yuta was brought out of his sleep by a warm hand caressing his back.

“Yuta, wake up. Come on, let’s eat a little and then we can go to bed, alright?” Yuta was tempted to just continue sleeping, but the enticing smell coming from the kitchen was way too tempting to ignore.

“Take me to the table,” he requested, slowly and carefully putting Aiko away and sitting down. He extended his arms towards Jaehyun, silently asking him to lift him up.

His boyfriend rolled his eyes but complied anyway, easily wrapping his arms around Yuta and lifting him up in a single movement. Yuta rapidly held on to Jaehyun like a koala, wrapping his legs around his torso. Jaehyun wondered when had he become so used to his boyfriend’s weird clinginess.

“You’re such a baby, and you’re getting heavier,” Jaehyun huffed, laughing when Yuta smacked him in the face groggily.

After they had dinner, the couple washed up and picked their dog up from the couch. Aiko now slept next to the bed on a fluffy red mattress Yuta had gotten for him. Jaehyun had been complaining that the dog was getting too large for the three of them to fit comfortably, and also, Yuta tended to ignore Jaehyun whenever Aiko was on the bed with them.

“Good night,” Jaehyun whispered, kissing lovingly Yuta’s nape. Yuta just hummed and interlaced Jaehyun’s hands that were resting on his stomach with hi owns.

“G’night, baby,” Yuta answered back, feeling the tiredness of the day disappearing little by little. And he wished, for a moment, that they could always stay like this.

 

{-}

 

Yuta would actually be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about marrying Jaehyun. He was a helpless romantic, he couldn’t help imagining what it would be like to be Jaehyun’s husband, to have their own party, to wear fancy suits, to say their vows out loud.

Like every other big step in their relationship, Yuta should obviously be the one to go down on one knee before Jaehyun, with a loving speech already prepared. Of course, all of those delirious ideas floated freely in Yuta’s mind before Jaehyun said that marriage was overrated and just a bunch of useless paperwork.

Yuta and Jaehyun had actually met while Yuta and Johnny were dating. Johnny had become friends with Jaehyun in college, and although they weren’t best friends, they still had a very close relationship. Yuta had only met Jaehyun a couple of times at some of Johnny's birthday parties.

They hadn’t really hit it off much. They were polite enough with each other and that was it. Despite Johnny’s efforts to bring his boyfriend and friend closer, Yuta and Jaehyun were way too different to click well together.

However, that changed when Johnny was offered a scholarship back in Chicago. After a very heart-wrenching argument, Yuta and Johnny arrived at the conclusion that having a long distance relationship was useless. They loved each other very much and Yuta had been almost sure Johnny was the one but he told his boyfriend of that moment that a long distance relationship just wouldn’t work. Yuta could handle a year of being apart from each other, but Johnny has been awarded a three-year scholarship, and it was plausible that he was going to be offered a job in Chicago as well.

Yuta couldn’t put himself through so much uncertainty, so he broke up with Johnny. Fortunately, the taller boy had understood his boyfriend’s point of view and didn’t try to press it any further. They ended on good terms. After all, they had been really close even before dating and it wasn’t worth losing each other as a friend.

That didn’t mean Yuta wasn’t heartbroken, didn’t mean he would move on like nothing had happened. In a desperate effort to heal his wounded heart and clear his mind, he took up some cooking lessons Doyoung had suggested; he had guessed that it would serve as a distraction for Yuta and of course, if he actually ended up learning how to cook, at least it would be well-spent money.

Yuta was surprised to see Jaehyun in the class, not as a student, but as the chef’s assistant. He recalled Jaehyun taking lessons in a private institute in order to become a chef. The other man too, looked rather surprised when he spotted Yuta among the mass of new students.

Although things had started a bit shakily between the two of them, soon they found out they enjoyed each other’s company a lot. Also, Yuta was an absolute mess in the kitchen so Jaehyun almost always spent the whole class helping him.

Once, after a class finished for the day, Yuta had invited Jaehyun for some drinks. They just headed to a little bar near Yuta’s department so they could talk comfortably. Of course, one drink became two, then three, and the next time Yuta woke up he was lying naked in his bed with Jaehyun spooning him, just as naked.

At first, they had both agreed that the alcohol in their system was the only culprit behind such a mistake. They laughed the whole thing off and promised not to drink so much next time they went out.

Despite their friendly pact, Yuta couldn’t really stop thinking about how much fun he had had with Jaehyun. It had been so long since he had last slept with someone, he told himself it was only the adrenaline of feeling so good again what unconsciously brought blurry pictures of his night with Jaehyun to his mind more times than he felt comfortable admitting.

They went on as if nothing happened, but Yuta was sure they could both feel the shift in their relationship. It was hard not to flirt with each other and Yuta was starting to believe that Jaehyun’s accidental touches weren’t so accidental after all.

 _Jaehyun is your ex’s friend, what the fuck are you doing_ , Yuta would chastise himself, going as far as pinching his skin in order to stop his hands from reaching over and caressing Jaehyun’s biceps. Unfortunately, the constant reminder that Jaehyun was Johnny’s friend wasn’t enough to stop Yuta from sleeping with Jaehyun again when the latter invited him over under the lame excuse of needing a helping hand in moving to his new place.

And just like that, they both developed a friends-with-benefits relationship. In the beginning, it was quite weird, to say the least. Johnny hung like a deadly and silent threat between them, and neither Yuta nor Jaehyun were willing to address the obvious issue at hand. Moreover, it was even odder because the two of them were still on speaking terms with Johnny.

Although Yuta always prided himself on being a relatively nice and a good person, he truly couldn’t bring himself to stop whatever he and Jaehyun had. Also, was it really wrong? Johnny and he had broken up almost a year prior and he wasn’t so stupid as to think his ex hadn’t found someone else in Chicago. It was chill, the two of them had talked about possible new relationships before officially breaking up and none of them had anything to say about it. They knew that unless Johnny came back, there wasn’t a chance for them to start again.

They were on good terms, so with that in mind, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to actually tell Johnny about Jaehyun and him. To his utmost surprise, his ex didn’t seem to mind at all.

_“That’s great, Yuta. I was afraid you would feel lonely without me. I know that you have Doyoung, but it’s nice to see you’re getting along with someone else. I mean, I’m not gonna lie, it’s a bit odd you’re sleeping with Jaehyun out of all people but he’s a chill dude.”_

Yuta had been stunned for a bit before bursting out laughing. Of course, Johnny would say something like that. His honesty and charisma, after all, had been the main traits for which Yuta had fallen for him in the first place.

However, after chatting a bit more about their current lives, moment in which Johnny had coyly admitted he had also met someone ( _“I can’t believe I’m not the only idiot on earth who actually laughs at your dumb jokes, wow.”_ ), he had also told Yuta to be careful.

_“Listen, Yuta. I know you, okay? I know you’re not the type to just sleep around, so please just, don’t get hurt, okay?”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“I mean, you’ve never been the kind of person to have sex just because. And although you have every right to do whatever you want with Jaehyun, just, please be careful, okay? I also know Jaehyun, that’s why I’m telling you this.”_

_“What are you talking about? It’s just sex, I’m not gonna catch feelings, Johns. I know what I’m doing.”_

At that time, Yuta had felt absolutely sure of himself. Yes, he actually believed having sex with someone you knew and liked was better than screwing around with strangers, so sue him. But Jaehyun was no stranger and they were friends. Apart from that, despite his quirky personality and cold demeanour Jaehyun truly made Yuta feel good. He was an excellent lover and damn, it had been so long since he had last been touched. Jaehyun knew exactly where to touch and how to touch, and he was particularly skilfull with his tongue, a trait Yuta really appreciated.

Everything was going smoothly; they had sex, they laid around naked talking like good friends and then Yuta would get up and leave.

No big deal.

However, everything changed when Jaehyun started asking Yuta to stay the night. He was tired of having to dress up again after their activities in order to accompany Yuta and open the entrance gate of his apartment complex since they didn’t have an electric door. Also, Yuta always had to call a cab in the middle of the night.

If Yuta stayed the night, then they could get up and leave together, and Yuta could take the subway instead of paying an overpriced cab. It made a lot of sense and Yuta knew Jaehyun had only proposed the idea because it was practical and it worked for the both of them.

Nonetheless, staying the night meant sleeping together, like, actually cuddling. It also meant homemade and fancy breakfasts, courtesy of an eternal cooking-enthusiast, Jaehyun. And to Yuta, there was nothing more domestic than having breakfast together while making light talk, way too early in the morning for the sun to seep through Jaehyun’s windows.

 _It’s fine_ , Yuta would tell himself. _This means nothing._

But Yuta wouldn’t be Yuta if he didn’t catch feelings for the impossibly handsome man who liked to cook all types of dishes for breakfast. So, okay, maybe Johnny was right. Yuta was prone to falling for people who treated him gently, for people who made him laugh and for people who fed him. Yeah, Yuta should really have seen that coming.

Unfortunately, Jaehyun didn’t seem to reciprocate Yuta’s romantic feelings. He never asked him to hang out outside of his apartment; he never asked about his personal interests. And not once had Jaehyun ever hinted at the possibility of being exclusive.

Yuta was too much of a chicken to actually ask Jaehyun if he slept with other people. He was too afraid of hearing the answer, he didn’t want to receive an unwanted confirmation of his fears. He hadn't slept with anyone else other than Jaehyun since their first encounter, which in Yuta’s mind, made him feel a little pathetic.

Furthermore, Jaehyun was unfairly attractive, the epitome of handsome with his strong jaw, straight nose, and pearly white teeth. He was tall, he was well-built, he was smart, he could cook, and most importantly, he was everything Yuta wanted. Of course, it only made sense that Yuta wasn’t the only person Jaehyun was banging, but again, he was too deep into him to actually care.

So Yuta continued seeing Jaehyun, heart heavy and eyes teary. He liked him way too much to lose him because he was deluding himself about what was going. So against his better judgement, Yuta didn’t try to put a stop to whatever casual thing they had going on.

However, one day Jaehyun asked him out of the blue if Yuta had any plans that night. He wasn’t going to lie, such a simple question ignited a flicker of hope within his heart. Yuta made sure to crush it as soon as it appeared, he was not going to go down that road only to have his heart broken.

Upon Yuta’s negative answer, Jaehyun had asked him to go to the movies. Yuta knew Jaehyun was the biggest film nerd ever and he also had a very particular taste for them. Yuta was sure that whatever film the local cinema was projecting, if Jaehyun wanted to watch it, was clearly a very intricate (boring) film.

That didn’t stop Yuta from agreeing, even when Jaehyun told him none of his friends wanted to go with him in the first place. Oh. Yuta was Jaehyun’s plan B. It was fine, hearing such a statement leave his mouth helped Yuta maintain a clear head about their non-existent relationship.

Jaehyun paid for the tickets and Yuta for the popcorn and the sodas, against Jaehyun’s protests. Yuta was the one doing him a favour so Jaehyun argued he should be the one to cover everything. Yuta had quickly dismissed him, alleging he also liked going to the movies so it was not a favour. Fifteen minutes in the film, however, Yuta realised he should have let Jaehyun pay for everything since it truly felt like he was doing him a favour. The film was...confusing. He didn’t understand many of the events that were developing throughout the film and he couldn’t pinpoint what the actual plot was.

Instead of watching the film, Yuta contented himself with watching each of Jaehyun’s reaction. The younger of the two looked pretty invested in the plot, rarely even touching the popcorn, hands too busy grasping the armrest of the cushioned seat of the cinema. Jaehyun was so cute when he wasn’t being a frivolous jerk, Yuta decided. His eyes sparkled and his mouth fell open in silent admiration. He must have truly like films, then.

It was nice to see such a different side from Jaehyun. It didn’t help his rapidly growing crush on him, Yuta bitterly thought, but he wasn’t about to complain. Spending time with Jaehyun in a place other than his apartment was thrilling, even if it was just to watch a film by a director whose surname Yuta couldn’t even pronounce.

Once the film ended, the two men got out of the cinema, and to Yuta’s utmost surprise, Jaehyun grabbed him by the hand, intertwining his fingers, and led the way out of the premises. Yuta’s heart did a somersault inside his chest, completely taken off guard.

_What is going on?_

“Did you like the film?” Jaehyun had asked nonchalantly as if he hadn't just grabbed Yuta’s hand out of the blue.

“Uhm, I didn’t understand it,” Yuta answered weakly, eyes trained where his hands were tightly clasped around each other. “Uhmm, Jae-”

“The plot was a bit complex, I have to admit that. But the photography was gorgeous, and the dialogues were really smart, don’t you think?” The taller of the two continued, completely disregarding Yuta’s inner turmoil.

“I guess, but Jaehyun I-”

“Thank you for coming to watch this film with me.” All of a sudden, Jaehyun stopped and smiled softly at Yuta. The Japanese man momentarily saw a light pink blush on Jaehyun’s cheeks but that wasn’t possible, it must have been a trick of the poor street lighting.

“This, uh, this is the kind of films I enjoy watching. I love coming to the cinema.” Yuta could only blink in response because what was he supposed to answer to such a random comment. Jaehyun had been acting weird and God, he was still holding Yuta’s hand and Yuta felt absolutely lost.

Did Jaehyun feel something for Yuta, too? Their movie trip, was it a date? Did Jaehyun think of it as such?

Tired of all the weird signs Jaehyun was sending, Yuta took it upon himself to clarify whatever thing they had going on. He was tired, he wanted Jaehyun all to himself and he was not going to let the younger lead him on just because Yuta had the biggest crush ever on him.

With his mind already made, he slowly took his hand out of Jaehyun’s grasp and exhaled loudly. He planted himself in front of Jaehyun and cleared his throat.

“Jaehyun,“ he began, putting his hands back in his coat so Jaehyun wouldn’t see how bad they were trembling, “what are we?”

Jaehyun just looked at him confused.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you like me, Jaehyun?”

“Of course I like you, Yuta, I wouldn’t sleep with you otherwise.”

Oh, that had hurt.

“I know that. I mean, do you feel something more for me? Why did you even grab my hand? I really like you, Jae. Not in just an ‘I-want-to-sleep-with-you’ kind of way, but I truly like you, I want to be with you.” Yuta explained calmly, contrary to the storm that raged within him. “So, I’m gonna ask you to stop leading me on if you just want to sleep with me because then I’ll end up heartbroken and I’d like to skip that part.”

There, he had said it. Though he had felt extremely nervous while delivering his speech, he felt a strange sense of relief. His mind and his heart were at peace now that he had explained how he really felt. Yuta was awful with emotions, and it was really difficult for him to hide what he felt. Concealing his feelings always drained him, it tired him out.

“I know you like me,” was Jaehyun’s simple answer. “It’s hard not to notice, you aren’t very subtle.”

Yuta flushed, feeling his body heating up.

“Well, I’m sorry if it bothers you, from now-”

“It’s cute,” Jaehyun interrupted him, taking a step closer to him. “You’re cute.” Jaehyun laughed quietly when he realised Yuta had to crane his neck a little in order to look into his eyes. “You’re so cute I had to something about it. I thought I was being quite obvious what with all the meals and all the cuddling. You’re pretty dense.” Jaehyun then circled his arms around Yuta’s waist and brought him closer until they were chest to chest.

“I-I thought that you didn’t like me like that, I mean, you’re not very expressive. You never once asked things about me.” Yuta stuttered, taken aback by the sudden change of events. Jaehyun liked him, too?

Jaehyun had the decency to blush a bit before answering, “I’m not very good with words. I just... I thought I was doing a pretty good job at letting you know I was just as interested in you.”

“Why didn’t you say something before if you knew I was into you?” Yuta whined, burying his head into Jaehyun’s chest, too embarrassed to look into his eyes.

“Again, I’m not good with words. I was actually hoping you would catch on my intentions and make the first move. Bad luck for me, you’re quite dense.” Jaehyun laughed at Yuta’s childish antics as the younger continued to whine softly. “But rest assured that I like you a lot and I want to be with you as well. I guess taking you out to watch some cryptic movie wasn’t very romantic. I suck at that, too, so I’m sorry.”

Yuta shook his head, face still buried into the soft material of Jaehyun’s navy-blue coat. He was aware Jaehyun wasn’t a person who dated a lot, he had said so himself. He had only had one serious relationship before and the rest had all been casual flings, so hearing him said that he _liked_ Yuta and that he _wanted_ to be with him made his heart shake and his skin crawl in satisfaction.

He lifted his head and felt his breath catch at how fondly Jaehyun was looking down at him. Such a gentle look suited Jaehyun so well, Yuta thought. It was a lot better than his usual stoic expression, it made his face light up and his dimples show.

“Jung Jaehyun, do you want to be my boyfriend since you like me so much?” Yuta asked cheekily, smiling brightly and feeling impossibly blissful.

Jaehyun just tapped Yuta on the nose slightly and snorted.

“Boyfriend? That’s a bit childish, isn’t it?” He laughed when saw Yuta’s offended expression.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he reassured him and cupped one of his cheeks. “I’d love to, Nakamoto Yuta.”

Yuta just grinned and put his hand on top of Jaehyun’s, leaning in and kissing him excitedly.

He remembered thinking that from then on, their relationship would change a little. He wasn’t expecting Jaehyun to make a 180° change the moment they became “official”, he wasn’t that naive. However, Yuta still expected him to be a bit more...expressive? Affectionate? He wasn’t sure what he was expecting (a white lie since Yuta fully knew what he wanted from his relationship with Jaehyun).

Dating Jaehyun was...a brand new experience. There were no pet names from him (Yuta called Jaehyun all sorts of names though), no surprise gifts, no romantic walks along the river, no romantic picnics on Sundays and no romantic trips to the mountains.

Granted, the university took most of Yuta’s time since he had begun his practices in a new vet in town a bit far from where he lived, so he barely had time to spare. Jaehyun wasn’t much better, having received an internship in a famous restaurant. He was just the assistant to the Chef’s assistant but it was a start.  
  
The both of them took their jobs pretty seriously so they didn’t see each other a lot. Of course, that didn’t stop Yuta from getting his hopes highs whenever they did get together. Doyoung had already told him that he shouldn't project his own desires on Jaehyun, and that he shouldn’t expect him to act like he would; Jaehyun was no Johnny.

After one too many disappointments, Yuta started to think their relationship wouldn’t get anywhere. He liked Jaehyun so much he wanted things to work smoothly for them, and he tried so hard. He always had Jaehyun’s favourite candies with him, he went to the cinema with him to see his weird movies, he would offer to massage him after a long day, he would buy little presents he knew his boyfriend would enjoy and so much more.

But it seemed Jaehyun wasn’t lying when he had told Yuta he sucked at relationships. It wasn’t as if he was bad to Yuta or anything of the sort. It just, for a long time Yuta didn’t feel like Jaehyun’s boyfriend at all. Slowly, he learnt that being Jaehyun’s boyfriend wasn’t very different from being his friend, and deep down, that hurt Yuta’s romantic heart just the slightest. He knew there were some people who actually preferred that their partner were more like a friend. But not Yuta.

He craved the tenderness only a boyfriend could provide, the small details, the spontaneous dates, the stolen kisses, the loving touches. Yuta liked Jaehyun a whole lot, so he learnt how to quiet down his romantic vein, how to quietly sit through their relationship without trying to scare Jaehyun away with his impulses. It wasn’t ideal, but Yuta was willing to accept Jaehyun’s odd personality if that meant that at the end of the day, he could kiss him deeply and call him his.

However, one day, one of the rare days that Jaehyun and Yuta didn’t have schedules, Jaehyun invited his boyfriend over. When Yuta entered the apartment, the first thing that called his attention was how dark everything was. Perhaps Jaehyun had forgotten to pay the bills, although it seemed a bit out of character for someone as responsible as him.

“Jaehyun?” He had called, tentatively, hands on the wall looking for support.

“In the kitchen,” came the soft reply. After venturing inside the apartment a bit more, Yuta could distinguish a dim light that came from the left room at the end of the hall.

“What’s all of this? Did you pay the bills, babe?” Yuta asked, walking carefully in order not to trip on anything on his way to the kitchen. “If you needed money you could have ask-”

The pictured that greeted him rendered him speechless.

On Jaehyun’s small wooden table, illuminating the whole room with a soft glow, were three tall red candles. There was a bottle of fine wine on the table, and dinner was served: chirashi sushi, one of Yuta’s favourite dishes.

Jaehyun was standing awkwardly next to the table, wearing a pair of black elegant slacks and a wine red shirt, neatly tucked inside his pants. His usually messy hair was carefully styled and Yuta could smell the expensive cologne he had given him for his birthday.

“I know,” Jaehyun started, “I’m not the best at relationships. I know you’ve been trying for us, and believe me, nothing upsets me more than seeing your disappointed face whenever I turn down your invitations to go out. The thing is,“ he continued, taking a step towards a frozen Yuta, “I’m sorry, Yuta. I’m not very romantic, and I really don’t like the couple stuff you propose to do. But I like you, and I really want things to work between us. And I’m sorry if you felt like I wasn’t interested in our relationship.”

At that point, Jaehyun had taken his boyfriend’s hand into his and, despite every cell in his body cringing at the idea, brought it to his lips and kissed each of his knuckles.

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to be the boyfriend you want, but I promise I’ll try a bit harder for us, okay? Just, let’s go slowly, please?”

Yuta stood there, wide-eyed and his heart caught in his throat. He nodded rapidly, quickly taking another look at the prettily set up table before shifting his view to Jaehyun.

“You didn’t have to do all of this,” he said, heart full to the brim with love. “But I appreciate the sentiment. I’m sorry I’m so pushy, and I’m sorry I try to drag you to things I know you don’t like.” Yuta then took a step forward and put his hands on Jaehyun’s shoulders, letting his fingers feel the cool material of the shirt. “Let’s try to meet in the middle, okay?”

Jaehyun smiled at his boyfriend and kissed him, hands coming to a rest on Yuta’s lower back.

“Thank you, baby,” Yuta said, grinning fondly. “Also, you already are the boyfriend that I want. So don’t think you have to change for me, okay?”.

“Yes, sir”, Jaehyun joked, kissing his boyfriend again when he saw him rolling his eyes.

Things had gone rather smoothly after their little date and although Jaehyun didn’t actually start agreeing to every idea Yuta had, he tried his best to at least be a little more communicative. He started complimenting Yuta more and once in a while he would ask Yuta to take a walk with him around the river at night. Jaehyun still wasn’t fond of the idea of going out to have fancy dinners or pet names, but Yuta didn’t really care. His heart was content enough with seeing his boyfriend try his best to make Yuta happy.

Of course, Yuta had been the one to say _“I love you”_ first, too.

Jaehyun had gone to Yuta’s apartment, full of fear and uncertainty. He had realised he didn’t like being in a restaurant every goddamn hour of the day, he didn’t like not having free weekends, he didn’t like being told what to do. Jaehyun was tired of working in Pasta Buona, he was sick of it. And he was scared as hell because did that mean he no longer enjoyed cooking?

Yuta had asked him if he enjoyed cooking, boss aside, people aside, problems aside, did he really like preparing tasty dishes? Jaehyun had answered that he loved it, that he couldn’t picture himself doing anything else. However, he couldn’t tolerate working for someone and he didn’t want to open his own restaurant because he knew chefs were slaves to their kitchens.

He had told Yuta he had been thinking about opening a catering service, but he would need to ask for a loan, hire people, buy a thousand things, and what if nobody ever hired his services?

Yuta had never seen Jaehyun so distressed. His hair looked dishevelled since he couldn’t stop running his finger through it and he had huge dark circles under his once lively eyes.

“Yuta, I don’t know what to do, what if I never get another job, what if I’m just a jobless person, what if I never cook again?”

Yuta had taken Jaehyun’s hands into his in order to prevent him from ruining his hair.

“It’s fine, Jae. You don’t need to make a decision right now. You can give yourself some time to think this through, okay? Don’t feel pressure to do anything you don’t want. Your health comes first, so please, just rest now and then we’ll think about this together, sounds good?

“But, Yuta, I really believe-”

“Hush.” Yuta kissed him quickly on the lips to silence him. “Nap first, think later.”

Jaehyun had agreed, and after the couple had climbed into bed, Yuta had kissed his boyfriend’s forehead wrinkles away.

“Stop worrying right now, we’ll deal with this later. But for the time being, let’s just sleep.” Jaehyun sighed knowing that arguing with his boyfriend was a lost cause. He appreciated being taken care of, nonetheless.

“And, Jaehyun” Yuta had called softly, head buried into Jaehyun’s chest, “I wanted to say that whatever you decide is fine by me. I’ll support you no matter what, okay? I love you, Jaehyun, and I know you’re capable enough of overcoming whatever life throws your way.”

At that time, Jaehyun had only tightened his embrace around Yuta and whispered a soft, _“Thank you.”_ Yuta didn’t mind Jaehyun hadn't said it back, he just wanted to make sure Jaehyun knew he was loved and that he wasn’t alone.

Jaehyun ended up quitting his job in order to open his catering service. It hadn’t been easy at first; the food industry was always a difficult field to play in and buying brand new and high-quality catering supplies wasn’t inexpensive either. Nonetheless, Jaehyun had an excellent eye for business and was charming enough to make great connections.

After having been called for minor events, he received his first big event: the daughter of one important CEO in the electronic field was getting married and they had hired his services.

Even if the preparations for such an important ceremony had not come without problems, in the end, everything had worked out just fine. The wedding was a success and soon enough, Jaehyun began receiving many calls from people who required his services.

After the wedding was over, Jaehyun had laid on his bed, Yuta a warm presence in between his arms.

“Thank you, Yuta. Thank you for encouraging me to keep on going with this idea.” He had whispered to his half-asleep lover. Yuta had nodded tiredly with a happy smile. “Thank you so much for supporting me through everything. I love you.”

Jaehyun had yelped when he suddenly felt Yuta laying on top of him, a blinding smile stretched around his lips. Yuta had waited so long to hear just those three words come out of his boyfriend’s mouth his heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest.

“And I,” Yuta had said, kissing his boyfriend deeply, “Love _you_ , Jaehyun.”

And like any other big step in their relationship, it was also inevitably Yuta who had proposed they should move in together.

Yuta spent so much time in Jaehyun’s apartment because it was closer to the vet’s office he was currently working at that he barely remembered he actually had his own place. He had even started to contribute to the groceries and the bills, since he almost felt like they actually lived together.

One time when Jaehyun had come back from a meeting with a client, Yuta, blunt as always, had cornered him the moment he entered the apartment.

“Jae, what do you think about living together?” He had asked nonchalantly while cutting some fruit for Jaehyun. “I mean, I spend so much time here it doesn’t make sense that I pay expenses at my own place. Don’t you think it’ll be better if I move in with you? We can share expenses as well.”

Yuta smiled slightly when he felt Jaehyun kissing his nape, his arms circling his waist in a loving embrace.

 _“‘Hi, Jae, how was your day?’”_ Yuta giggled when he heard Jaehyun’s usual low pitch go higher in a poor imitation of his slightly airy voice. “Fine, thanks for asking. How was yours, Yuta?” he continued fooling around and quickly detangled his arms from Yuta’s waist, taking a step back when he felt his boyfriend trying to jab him with his elbow.

“You're being way too dramatic, Mister Jung. As if we hadn't talked on the phone an hour again. Also, rude, my voice sounds nothing like that.” Yuta arranged the last pieces of strawberry he had been cutting on the plate and smiled to himself, satisfied with his work. He left the knife in the sink and washed his hands, doing his best to ignore Jaehyun’s awful attempts at mimicking him.

_“You're being way too dramatic, Mister Jung.”_

“Shut up or I'll eat of these by myself,” Yuta threatened his boyfriend. He grabbed the plate full of fresh cut fruit and walked past Jaehyun to the two-person couch that took up half of the apartment’s space.

Jaehyun just chuckled and sat with his boyfriend, easily stealing some of the temptingly looking slices of melon.

“You didn't answer, by the way,” Yuta casually commented, trying to appear as relaxed as possible.

Jaehyun smiled knowingly, his dimples showing momentarily. Yuta was so transparent with his wishes and desires, it was irresistible. He wore his heart on his sleeve and he wasn’t afraid to show the world how pretty it could be. Jaehyun absolutely loved that about him. Being rather reserved himself, it was always a sight to see someone like Yuta so in tune with their inner feelings. Although it could be quite overwhelming at times, just like the rays of the sun amidst the hottest of summer days, so that when winter rolled in it was impossible not be reminiscence of the warmth they once provided.

It was the same for Jaehyun. Yuta was abrasive and overwhelming, but Jaehyun often found himself breathless at such an intensive aura. He felt inevitably attractive to the fire that burnt so brightly within his lover’s core. He knew Yuta gravitated aimlessly in hopes of being caught by someone who could keep him grounded, and Jaehyun was more than happy to be the one to hold onto him.

“Moving in, you said,” Jaehyun repeated, grabbing another slice of melon. He pretended to ponder while chewing on the fruit, thumb easily catching any drops dripping from the corner of his lips. “Actually, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he deadpanned, turning his head lightly to watch his boyfriend’s expression freeze. “I mean,” Jaehyun continued, “there’s barely enough space. Your furniture wouldn’t fit here.”

“Oh,” Yuta weakly responded. He took a quick look over the tiny living-room and dining-room, wincing internally when he realised that Jaehyun was right. His boyfriend’s bedroom wasn’t exactly big either and the kitchen was equipped to fit just one person comfortably. “That’s true.”

Yuta’s apartment was way too far from almost everything and, unfortunately, he had the same problem regarding space. His was almost the same size as Jaehyun’s apartment. Nonetheless, he wasn’t going to give up so easily. His mind had already conjured all types of scenarios that could happen if Yuta and Jaehyun lived together, and he was not keen on letting all of his cute fantasies go to waste. No way.

“How about…” Yuta trailed off, leaving the plate of fruit in front of the small table in front of the couch, “We look for a new apartment together? Closer to both our jobs and a bit bigger?”

Jaehyun just looked at Yuta with his usual poker face on, and Yuta fidgeted under his boyfriend’s gaze, willing himself not to break eye-contact. He was not going to let go of his wish without putting up a fight, and Jaehyun better knew that.

“Why are you even taking so long to answer me?” Yuta finally gave in upon his boyfriend’s eerie silence. His eyebrows had started to furrow, and he could feel annoyance flooding his veins. Didn’t Jaehyun want to live with him as well? “Do you want to move in with me or not?”

“Mmh, I wonder…” Jaehyun trailed off. He watched as Yuta’s face changed by the second, going from surprise to annoyance to anger and then to defeat.

“W-well.” Yuta cleared his throat in a poor attempt to swallow the sudden bitterness away. It was okay, maybe it was too big a step for Jaehyun. That didn’t mean Jaehyun didn’t love him. That didn’t mean Jaehyun didn’t love him. “You could have said so instead of putting up excuses.” Then, as indifferently as possible, Yuta stood up and grabbed the plate of fruit to take it back to the kitchen. He vehemently avoided Jaehyun’s gaze.

Alright, that hadn’t gone as planned, and okay, maybe Yuta was a bit mad. Doyoung had told him beforehand that Yuta shouldn’t just throw a casual comment about moving in together, he needed to talk it seriously with Jaehyun. As expected, Yuta hadn’t really listened, entirely sure that Jaehyun loved him enough to move in with him. Doyoung, ever the friend to keep his head cool, had told him that those two things had nothing in common. The fact that Jaehyun loved him didn’t entail he was willing to move in with Yuta.

Yuta wasn’t dumb, he knew that much but he couldn’t help to get a bit ahead of himself whenever it came to Jaehyun.

A pair of arms jolted him out of his thoughts, interrupting his angry dishwashing. Yuta ignored the way Jaehyun glued himself to his back, arms tightly circled around his waist.

“Are you mad?” Jaehyun’s low baritone voice sent shivers down Yuta’s spine. His boyfriend’s mouth was glued to his ear, lips softly caressing its shell. Jaehyun only used that voice when he tried to will Yuta’s bad mood away and Yuta hated it because it worked every fucking time.

Yuta shouldn’t be mad, he couldn’t force Jaehyun to move in with him no matter how much he wished he could. However, Jaehyun knew him and he should know better than to try to calm Yuta down whenever he was in a petty mood. Yuta knew he shouldn’t act like that but he couldn’t help it. If Jaehyun only gave him a couple of minutes he would be able to cool off all by himself.

“I’m not,” he finally sighed. “I’m disappointed, I guess. It’s not your fault, it’s just me having false expectations. Again.” Yuta continued washing, feeling ashamed of being so damn emotional. “I know we talked about this, sorry. Just, give me a couple of minutes, please?”

Yuta yelped when he felt a pair of lips caressing the back of his neck.

“God, you’re so cute when you act all embarrassed like this.” Jaehyun slowly started stroking Yuta’s side. “Don’t be mad, I didn’t even say no.”

Yuta groaned and tried to bat his boyfriend’s hands away, throat rapidly closing at the implications of Jaehyun’s words.

“What are you doing? Ugh, what are you saying, Jae-”

“I want to move in with you, Yuta. I love the idea.”

Yuta successfully pushed Jaehyun away and turned around to face him. He could feel the heat crawling from his neck towards his face, cheeks promptly acquiring a red tint. Jaehyun was looking at him, a tiny smile on his lips.

The fucking bastard.

“Why didn’t you say anything before, you idiot!” Yuta covered his cheeks in a weak attempt to cool them off and glared at his boyfriend’s amused expression. “You know how sensitive I am with this kind of issues, ugh, I hate you.”

Jaehyun took a step forward and pried Yuta’s hands away, quickly intertwining their fingers.

“I’m sorry, Yuta. I love it when you get all worked up like this.” The younger gently pushed Yuta against the sink with his hips. “I really love it.” He repeated, pressing his semi hard-on on against Yuta’s hips to get his point across.

Yuta was baffled, to say the least. He knew his boyfriend was a bit of a sadist; nothing got Jaehyun harder than when Yuta begged. But, damn, this was a whole new level.

“Jung Jaehyun, I can’t believe you,” Yuta deadpanned, and although he felt absolutely confused by the strange turn of events, his heart was hammering inside of his chest, brimming with love. Jaehyun wanted to move in with him. He would love to, he had said.

Yuta smiled happily, looking up at his boyfriend, eyes shining with excitement.

“But I'm so damn relieved you also want to move in with me,” he confessed. Jaehyun just bit his lower lip and pulled his hand away from Yuta’s in favour of tilting his head up by grabbing him by the jaw.

“If we lived together,” he whispered over Yuta’s lips, pressing his body against his boyfriend’s, “I’m sure we’ll get to do this a lot more often.”

Jaehyun had fucked him right there in the kitchen, and then in Jaehyun’s bedroom as well. While they were laying on the bed, Jaehyun had confessed he had also thought about moving in together. Actually, he had been looking for apartments because he wanted to ask Yuta to move in together once he found something suitable for the two of them.

Yuta had kissed him until the two of them were breathless.

“Why are you such a chicken, though? You know, babe, if it weren’t for me we would never get anything done.”

Jaehyun had rolled his eyes and tickled him. After all, he couldn’t argue with that.

Even their German Shepard pup had been Yuta’s idea. Actually, Aiko had belonged to a family who was moving abroad and couldn’t take the poor dog with them.

Yuta was a vet; he knew better than adopting every unfortunate animal out there. But Aiko had been so cute, with his big brown eyes and his fluffy tail. He was well-behaved for such a breed of dog, and he could tell his family was heartbroken about giving him up.

Yuta knew people in big cities preferred smaller dogs, what with having few green spaces and having more apartments than actual houses. Even in the vet’s office that Yuta worked in at that time, clients almost always brought in small breeds because of the lack of space. Pups meant to grow larger than 50cm were often discarded in the local pound, and rarely adopted.

Aiko, even as a pup, was already larger than most of the older dogs of smaller breeds they had as patients. Yuta knew it was only a matter of time before he got too big for people to even look his way when looking for a dog to adopt. And Yuta couldn’t let that happen.

He knew Jaehyun liked animals, just another reason why he loved him so much. He would always pet all the furry patients waiting to be picked up by their owners when he visited Yuta at the vet. However, liking dogs and owning one were two completely different matters.

They had only been living together for a couple of months, so Yuta was unsure whether if bringing a dog to live them was the best idea. They were still trying to adapt to their different schedules and habits, and he truly didn’t want to make things worse.

But Aiko was just so damn cute, Yuta’s heart sped up at the thought of having such an angel living with Jaehyun and him.

Fuck it, Yuta remembered thinking, Aiko is ours. And just like that, in a rather poorly-thought impulse, Yuta took Aiko home after he closed the office down one day. He had called Doyoung to pick him up since he wouldn’t be able to carry the pup and the supplies he had bought for him all by himself.

The judging glare Doyoung sent his way the moment he got out of the car to help Yuta carry all the things was confirmation enough that Yuta should have given a more thorough thought to adopting Aiko.

_“I’m assuming you haven’t talked about this with Jaehyun.”_

_“Shut up, Doyoung. He won’t mind.”_

_“I can’t believe Jaehyun puts up with you, he’s way too good for you.”_

_“Shut it, Kim. Next time you bring Rey I’m gonna shave his entire body.”_

_“You wouldn’t.”_

_“Try me.”_

Jaehyun had been quite astonished when he heard barks coming from their apartment even before getting inside. He could only imagine what Yuta had done.

“Welcome home, babe. How was the meeting with Mr. Hon?” Yuta had greeted him from the floor. He was sitting cross-legged playing with a pup Jaehyun couldn't recall was at their home before he left that morning.

“Yuta, what is that?”

His boyfriend only smiled sheepishly at him and got up from the floor, happy pup on his arms.

“Jaehyun, meet Aiko, our son.”

To Yuta’s delight, Jaehyun didn’t mind a bit that he had brought Aiko home. Yes, he would have liked if Yuta had talked with him first, but after a slight scold, he had dropped to his knees to play with the newest addition to their family.

Life had been so good to Yuta, he always tried not to be greedy and ask for more. Jaehyun was the person he was in love with, he was the reason he wanted to do his best and be a better version of himself, and he was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Jaehyun was everything to Yuta, so it only made sense that the rest of the world should know this as well. And what better way to show his love than to put a ring on Jaehyun’s finger?

Yuta had always fantasized, even when he was just a silly child, about how his wedding would be like. Would it be on the beach in a little congregation of people while the sun was setting? Or would it be a massive party under a huge gazebo?

He loved weddings, he loved the very concept of marriage and the bond it represented, and there was nothing that Yuta wanted more than to be Jaehyun’s husband.

But that was before the everything went to shit.

Yuta and Jaehyun had gone out to celebrate one of their anniversaries (anniversaries were an exception to Jaehyun’s objections to dates, Yuta had been final about it) to one of the fanciest restaurants in the city.

Yuta was over the moon, since he loved dressing up for special occasions, and especially if it was for dates. Jaehyun, for once, had indulged him and dressed up as well. They had walked with their fingers intertwined and Jaehyun had told Yuta how lucky he was for having him as his boyfriend.

The dinner was exquisite, the atmosphere was incredibly romantic and Jaehyun was in his best mood. Yuta could have cried. Everything was going so smoothly, Yuta believed he could stop breathing right there and he would die happily.

Of course, that was before _that_ happened.

A high-pitched scream had surprised all the people having dinner peacefully in the restaurant. Two tables away from Yuta and Jaehyun, a lady had kneeled in front of her girlfriend and was presenting her with a blue velvet box.

Everyone held their breaths when the girl on her knees asked “Would you marry me?”, and not a beat second, there was a massive boom of applause when her girlfriend answered “I’d love to” and pulled her up by the elbow to kiss her.

The whole scene had been so romantic Yuta’s eyes were brimming with tears. God, love was such a beautiful thing, he couldn’t stop clapping, he was so lucky to witness such a wonderful proposal, he could-

“I don’t understand,” Jaehyun had commented, cutting his train of thoughts.

“Jaehyun, they just got engaged, what is it that you do-”

“No, I mean,” Jaehyun tore his eyes away from the newly engaged couple and took a sip of his expensive wine, “why do people want to get married?”

_What._

“Honestly, it’s such a waste of time and money. Like, if you already are in a happy relationship with a person, why would you complicate things like that?” He continued, unaware of the sound of Yuta’s heart breaking little by little.

“I happen to believe it’s incredibly romantic, actually. Also, marriage isn’t the same as just being a relationship, it shows you want to spend the rest of your life with the person you love. It’s a statement.” Yuta’s hands were trembling because he didn’t just hear his incredibly perfect boyfriend said marriage was a waste of time.

“Maybe,” Jaehyun conceded, unpreoccupied with the whole scene that had developed before his eyes, “but it’s a statement for whom? Perhaps it’s just a show for family and friends, but if you truly love your partner then I don’t see the point in getting married. Having a ring or not won’t make you love them more or anything. Also, weddings are hella expensive and I’m sure the couple doesn’t even enjoy it.”

“I think it’s a bit ridiculous to propose in such a crowded place, don’t you think? It’s a bit tacky.” Jaehyun carried on, oblivious to Yuta’s crestfallen expression.

And just like that, every fantasy Yuta might have had of marrying Jaehyun died and burnt to ashes in a matter of seconds.

The dinner continued as if nothing had happened, Jaehyun excitedly told Yuta about this famous model who had requested their service and Yuta congratulated him like the good and proud boyfriend he was, but deep inside he felt hollow. He couldn’t bring himself to feel even the slightest bit excited about Jaehyun’s news or even about their romantic anniversary dinner.

Yuta’s only thought throughout the night had been, _“I’m never going to marry Jaehyun.”_

Johnny and Doyoung had done their best to console a broken-hearted Yuta. They had asked if he had talked the whole marriage issue through with Jaehyun; if he had told him how he truly felt about it or was just keeping it to himself. Yuta had answered that he couldn’t, Jaehyun had looked so ominous talking about it he felt incredibly pressured.

What if Jaehyun left him because Yuta wanted to get married and his boyfriend didn’t? Yuta would rather stab himself in the eye with a fork that let something like that happen.

 _It’s okay_ , he had told their concerned friends, _I don’t need a ring to love Jaehyun. It’s not like I’m going to love him any less._

And if Doyoung and Johnny weren’t convinced about that statement, at least they were kind enough to pretend they were.

So Yuta moved on with his life, plans of getting married properly locked down deep within his mind and heart. They would never see the sunlight, but it was alright. At least he had Jaehyun and Aiko.

Everything was going to be fine.

  
{-}

 

Yuta and Jaehyun, for some strange reason, had started having silly fights. And it wouldn’t have been so worrying if they didn’t happen so frequently. It seemed something as trivial as forgetting to turn the coffee machine on was spark enough to light up a whole fire.

Yuta had tried to be on his best behaviour but lately Jaehyun had been terribly distant. Unfortunately, the younger had a tendency to keep his problems to himself, too afraid to share his burdens with his boyfriend. Although the couple had worked through such attitudes in the past, Jaehyun’s condition seemed to worsen whenever he was under a lot of stress.

Yuta too had been under a ton of stress but he didn’t want something like that to affect their relationship so whenever he was at home, he attempted to make light talk or proposed a movie night or whatever helped them clear their minds.

However, he was getting tired of Jaehyun’s negative attitude, and he had started to become quite exasperated. Moreover, the two were so different when dealing with stress, it was tragic. While Yuta became rather clingy and was in need of constant reassurance, Jaehyun became quite stoic.

Yuta was growing anxious by the days since it appeared they weren’t making any progress. Jaehyun would constantly arrive home late, and Yuta was afraid it was because the atmosphere at their apartment had turned tense. They tiptoed around each other a lot as well, since they were too scared to break whatever poor equilibrium they had achieved.

Both were getting stressed because they couldn’t even figure out how to stop having petty arguments. Having to take care of Aiko didn’t help much either. They would constantly blame each other if one of them forgot to take Aiko for a walk, resulting in the poor dog pissing inside the apartment.

At one point, during one of his mental breakdowns, Yuta had started doubting if they should have moved in together so soon. God, was Aiko a mistake as well? Was dating Jaehyun wrong, too? Everything was going to shit and he didn’t know how to stop it.

Jaemin had easily caught on to Yuta’s behaviour, and he tried his best to at least distract him at work. He didn’t dare ask what was wrong in the supposedly loving Nakamoto-Jung household. Jaemin was sure Yuta would break under the question.

The young vet had always viewed Yuta and Jaehyun’s relationship with wonder, as they were quite different but they got along well enough. It was apparent to anyone with eyes that Yuta was painfully in love with Jaehyun; he looked at him like he was the centre of the universe. His mood would instantly pick up whenever Jaehyun called, and god, Jaemin loved when he visited the vet because Yuta would get so excited he always ended up embarrassing himself.

At first, Jaemin had been a bit wary of his boss’ boyfriend. He looked a bit intimidating and rarely smiled. However, upon closer inspection, he realised that it wasn’t that Jaehyun was cold or unsympathetic. He was just a bit on the introverted side, but once he opened up, he was such a sweetheart Jaemin could easily understand why Yuta had fallen for him in the first place.

Jaehyun wasn’t so keen on public demonstrations of affection, not as much as Yuta at least, but Jaemin could see he still cared about his boyfriend a lot. Jaemin found it amusing whenever Jaehyun broke character, going out of his way to appease his boyfriend or to make him smile. He was obviously smitten with Yuta and, although he was a bit apprehensive about showing such tenderness, he tried his best.

They were so happy together Jaemin couldn’t even begin to imagine why they were having trouble. It pained him because Yuta was so lively and positive all of the time, it was saddening to see him dejected.

Therefore, Jaemin really did his best to put a smile on Yuta’s face, but it seemed that only made him feel worse.

“I’m such a pathetic boss, my employee is trying to cheer me up. Ugh, I’m so sorry I’ve been acting like this, Jaemin. That’s so unprofessional of me, I promise it won’t happen again,” Yuta had told him, assuring the boy he would no longer behave like a baby.

Jaemin had tried to argue that Yuta was human, he was allowed to have feelings, to not feel okay. His boss had only patted him on the shoulder and thanked him. And that had been it.

Yuta, despite Jaemin thinking otherwise, knew that he was entitled to having emotions. He just didn’t feel good about making his employee feel badly about his, that was it.

In an effort to clear his mind and to bring his spirit up, he told Jaemin he would go out for just a bit and that he was to take care of everything while he was briefly gone.

Whenever he felt hesitant, whenever he felt like the world was crumbling apart, Yuta knew what was the one thing that could put him back on his feet again. The silly promise of buying Jaehyun’s and his engagement rings was enough to put him through the day.

Yuta quickly made his way towards the jewellery shop, body buzzing with eagerness. He couldn’t wait to see his beautiful ring on display, shining, inviting, almost calling out to Yuta to buy it. He could already feel his lips trembling from excitement, his bad mood easily melting, he-

Yuta froze before the window of the shop, his heartbeat going into overdrive. The usual green velvety box on which his ring laid was now occupied by another one, one that was surely not his ring.

_Where was his ring?_

He rapidly searched for any signs of his ring on the other stands, eyes moving frantically trying to catch a glimpse of his beautiful ring with the pear-shape diamond. However, it was no to no avail, there was no sign of his ring anywhere.

 _Okay, calm down,_ Yuta told himself, maybe the owners just brought it back inside. _They sometimes change the display, right? It doesn’t mean they sold the ring._

Gathering whatever little courage he had, he stilled his nerves and after exhaling loudly a couple of times, adjusted his coat and entered the shop.

The little bell attached to the corner of the door alerted the owners a customer had walked in, who instantly greeted Yuta.

“Welcome, sir. How can we help you?” The gentle lady asked, a tender smile plastered on her face.

“There was a ring on the display. With a pear-shaped diamond, white gold band, looked like there were vines holding the diamond? It was on a green box.” Yuta explained as calmly as he could.

The lady seemed to ponder Yuta’s request for a minute before her husband butted in.

“Oh, you’re the young man who came with his friend to buy the ruby ring, some weeks ago. That ring was the one you liked, right?” Yuta nodded, trying not to let the panic that was coursing through his veins shone through his relaxed facade.

“I’m sorry, but a couple came in last week and bought it. It’s a shame, I remember your eyes lit up when you saw the ring.” The man smiled apologetically.

“It was a beautiful ring, but don’t worry, young man. I see you’re ready to propose! We have lots of different options that I’m sure you’ll like just as much,” the kind lady tried to cheer him up.

Yuta could feel his ears ringing and the world spinning.

“Ah, it’s fine. It w-was a beautiful ring, I should have bought it sooner. Ha. Silly me. I’ll come back later, then. Thank you.” And after a terrible imitation of a smile, Yuta bolted out of the place.

His ring had been sold. Yuta wouldn’t be able to picture Jaehyun using such a beautiful ring anymore. Jaehyun and he would _never_ get married. And he had known that, but deep inside of him, he hoped for it.

It had been a lie when he told himself he didn’t care if he married Jaehyun or not. He wanted so badly to call Jaehyun is husband. That ring had been a glimmering strand of hope he hadn't been willing to let go of. And now it was gone.

Yuta believed it was a sign; he just wasn’t destined to marry Jaehyun. He would never have his wedding, he would never have his honeymoon, he would never wave happily at his friends from the back of a car with the sign ”Newly Wed”.

And just as he let the idea sink in, his heart shattered. And he cried, in the corner of the street, body convulsing with every sob. He cried and cried, and it seemed the sky was mocking him because suddenly it started to snow. And Yuta laughed through his tears because the situation was _so_ absurd. He was crying over the loss of something that was never his, that would never be his.

It was freezing, and the little snowflakes were starting to accumulate on his hair and shoulders but he didn’t care. He stood there, hoping the gentle snow would numb his aching heart, would freeze it, so he needn't feel again.

  
{-}

 

After a distressed Jaemin, who had almost lost it when he saw his boss on the border of hypothermia, made him changed clothes and sent him home to rest, alleging they were about to close anyway, Yuta found himself in front of his apartment door.

He had washed his face, erasing all traces of tears left. He wasn’t sure he was ready to face Jaehyun, the vestiges of his crushed dream still burnt like embers in his heart, and the realisation that his relationship was falling apart and he didn’t know how to fix it did little to encourage him to open the door.

Despite wanting nothing more than to bolt out of there, Yuta prided himself in being quite valiant. He was never one to run away from his problems, and even though his legs were shaking, he managed to open the door.

Aiko greeted him happily, running towards him and wagging his fluffy tail. His lovely child always made Yuta feel happy, and he felt a pang of guilt when earlier he thought of adopting Aiko as a mistake. He never meant those words, how could he, when lately the only thing that managed to heal him was his oversized puppy.

“Atta, boy, how is the most precious pup on earth, mmh?” Yuta cooed at his dog, dropping to his knees to let Aiko nuzzle him and lick all of his face. His warm and wet tongue tickled Yuta, and he could feel the last remnants of his bad mood slip away.

After caressing Aiko’s ears and kissing his muzzle, Yuta stood up, dusting his jeans.

Aiko barked playfully at him and went back to the couch on which he was laying with Jaehyun prior to Yuta’s arrival.

“Hey,” Jaehyun greeted him from the couch, Aiko already all over him again. “You look tired,” he noticed.

And okay, Yuta knew Jaehyun usually didn’t greet him with more than a _“Hi, Yuta, how was your day?”_ but the lack of emotion behind those words, behind that simple statement, rubbed Yuta the wrong way. His boyfriend’s voice didn’t have a hint of interest or concern, as a matter of fact.

Yes, Yuta was tired. He knew he looked like shit so he really didn’t need his boyfriend pointing it out. He just wanted to be held and being taken care of. But of course, Jaehyun, oblivious and less than empathic Jaehyun, couldn’t take a hint.

“Yes, Jaeyun, I look tired because I am tired, thanks for pointing that out,” Yuta said back, sick of everything.

His boyfriend furrowed his eyebrow taken aback by such reply.

“What is wrong, did something happened?” Jaehyun asked, carefully. He knew their relationship had been on thin ice recently, and he truly didn’t want to have another fight when just that morning they had shouted at each other for forgetting to put away the leftovers.

_That’s it._

“What is wrong?” Yuta asked, eyes wide. “What is wrong,” he repeated, voice trembling, “I’ll tell you what is wrong. Everything is wrong, Jaehyun, everything. We can’t stop fighting, it’s as if you didn’t even care about making things work anymore. Fuck, it has always been like this.” Yuta exploded.

Aiko suddenly whimpered and ran towards the bedroom when he heard Yuta’s tone of voice. It seemed their dog didn’t like it when they fought and had taken a liking to hide under the bed of their bedroom until things calmed down.

Jaehyun got up from the couch, eyeing Yuta.

“‘It has always been like this’?” Jaehyun repeated, perplexed. “What do you mean?”

“It’s no secret that if it weren't for me this relationship wouldn’t work. It’s always me, making sacrifices for this goddamn relationship.” Yuta had started to cry. He hated fighting so much but he was sick of it. “I don’t know why, but you have been acting like a complete jerk for the last weeks and I just thought, oh, poor thing, he must be so stressed. Guess what, Jaehyun, I’m stressed as well and yet I don’t treat you like shit!” He continued, body trembling.

 _No, no, what are you doing, what are you saying_ , Yuta panicked, surprised by his own words. This was not the proper way to have an argument, he had been meaning to speak things out with Jaehyun calmly, not like this.

Jaehyun snorted, absolutely baffled by Yuta’s claims.

“Maybe if you weren’t so damn clingy all the time. God, am I not allowed to have one bad day without you trying to be all over me like a damn kid. I’m an adult, Yuta. Instead of helping all you do is make things worse. You have always been so fucking clingy.” Jaehyun spat back, regretting what he said the moment those words left his mouth.

Yuta stood there, tears falling silently, mouth agape.

“I knew it,“ Yuta laughed, although it sounded more like a choke, “I knew you were sick of me. I’m sorry I don’t like seeing my boyfriend upset, I’m so fuckin sorry I care.”

“Yuta, I-”

“No. It makes sense now, fuck, how could I have been so blind.” Yuta cried harder, trying futility to dry his tears, “you’re sick of me, aren’t you? You have been so distant with me, so secretive. You wanna break up with me? That’s it? Fine, Jaehyun, then let’s break up, why don’t you just finish breaking my heart? I was a fucking fool to believe we would last. God, I love you so much it fucking kills me, but I should’ve known you didn’t love me just as much.”

Yuta slid down to the floor, knees too weak to support him. Everything hurt so much, and it  
killed him that Jaehyun hadn’t even attempted to console him, to hold him up.

 _Is this really it? This is how we end?_ Yuta bitterly thought, unable to stop the tears that kept flowing out.

“And to believe I gave up on my dream of getting married for you,” he carried on, hands on his face. He couldn’t face Jaehyun, he wasn’t ready to face whatever expression his boyfriend had on his face. He wasn’t ready to look at the grimace of pity on his face.

And why on earth wasn’t Jaehyun saying anything back? In an act of sudden courage, Yuta removed his hands from his face. He whimpered when he was met with an empty room, no sign of Jaehyun.

_Fantastic, just great._

Yuta sobbed even harder because fuck, even if Jaehyun didn’t want him anymore they had gone through so much together the least he could do was face him and properly break up with him.

Suddenly he didn’t just feel awfully bad, but borderline angry. Did Yuta mean nothing at all? Jung Jaehyun better know he wasn’t just a fling he could toss away just because it got difficult.

_This fucker._

Yuta angrily dried his tears and stood up, ready to give his boyfriend a piece of his mind. He wasn’t about to end things like that.

Just as he was making his way towards their shared bedroom, Jaehyun emerged out of it, a guilty expression on his face.

“Jung Jaehyun, you-”

“Wait,” the taller boy interrupted him softly, “please, hear me out.”

Yuta was astonished. To listen to him? Was he kidding? What was Jaehyun playing at?

“Hear me out? When you fucking left in the middle of the argument? No, you will listen to me-”

“I love you, Nakamoto Yuta.” Jaehyun suddenly said, taking a step forward and softly grabbing Yuta’s wrist. “And I’m so sorry I made you think otherwise. I’m so sorry we have been arguing so much, I’m so sorry you felt like I didn’t want you anymore. I didn’t mean any of the things I said earlier, really. You have never and will never be a bother to me.”

Yuta blinked, startled at Jaehyun’s words. He was not expecting that.

Jaehyun took advantage of Yuta’s bewilderment to carry on.

“I know we have been both stressed, and I know I didn’t deal with the situation in the best way.”

Yuta noticed how the tip of his boyfriend’s ears suddenly turned red and that added to the pile of overwhelming confusion Yuta was currently going through.

“I’ve been stressed, but not because of work.” Jaehyun suddenly exhaled and stuck his hand into his front pocket, taking out a little blue velvet box. The mere sight of it got Yuta trembling because _what was going on?_ “It’s because I’ve been incredibly restless, thinking about us, about our future. And then we started fighting and I got scared because the sole thought of not being with you, of not being able to mend things with you, scared me to death.”

When Jaehyun dropped to one knee, Yuta whimpered. Was his boyfriend really going to…?

“I love you, baby. There’s no one else for me, there’s no one who is willing to put up with me as much as you, there’s no one else who will love me like you do. And there is no one who will love you more than I do. You’re everything to me, and I know I’m not perfect and perhaps I don’t deserve you, but I don’t care.” Yuta had begun crying again and he swore the world started spinning when Jaehyun opened the little box. There, cushioned by white silk, laid his ring. ”I want us to be better together, to grow together. I just want us to belong to each other forever.”

The pear-shaped diamond glimmered prettily under the lights of their apartment.

“Nakamoto Yuta, I promise to make you the happiest man alive, so please, will you marry me?”

Yuta full out sobbed and his trembling hands covered his mouth. His heart was beating so fast he feared he was going into cardiac arrest.

Jaehyun stumbled back when Yuta lunged at him, sending the both of them toppling to the floor. Yuta was bawling his eyes out on Jaehyun’s chest, nodding uncontrollably.

“Y-yes, a thousand times yes, Jung Jaehyun. I’ll marry you,” he managed to say, arms tightly clasped around Jaehyun’s neck. His boyfriend just laughed and embraced him just as tightly, heart brimming with love. God, he couldn’t believe Yuta was his fiancé.

They were engaged. Jaehyun suddenly laughed. He was so unbelievably lucky.

Once Yuta had calmed down enough, they both stood up and started looking for the ring that had flown out the moment Yuta tackled Jaehyun. They found it under the couch, and since the lid of the box had closed the moment it flew off, the ring was unscratched.

Jaehyun opened the box again and took out the ring out. He extended his palm, asking for Yuta’s hand. The latter extended it towards his boyfriend without missing a beat, his fingers trembling.

By the time Jaehyun slid the ring smoothly on Yuta’s fingers, his now fiancé had started silently crying as well.

“It looks beautiful on you,“ Jaehyun praised, kissing the pear-shaped diamond. He softly tugged Yuta’s wrist and brought his fiancé closer to him. “I love you, and I can’t believe for a moment you thought I didn’t.”

“I’m so confused right now, Jaehyun,” Yuta confessed, circling his arms around Jaehyun’s neck. “I thought you didn’t want to get married? And the ring? You have been acting so strangely these last days, I didn’t know what to think. It’s your fault, you idiot.”

Jaehyun just chuckled, embarrassed at being caught. He kissed Yuta, once, twice, before actually answering him.

“So, I had a talk with Johnny a couple of weeks ago. He made me realise some things.” Jaehyun kissed Yuta again when he saw him frowning. “Let’s sit and I’ll tell you everything, okay?”

Yuta nodded and untangled his arms from Jaehyun. He grabbed him by the hand and tugged him so they could sit on the couch.

Jaehyun told Yuta how he had gone to Johnny for advice a couple of weeks ago when they had first started to fight. He confessed to the older boy how scared he was of things not working out with Yuta. He was afraid they had moved in together too soon, adopted Aiko too soon. It’s not like they had only begun dating though. Actually, they had been dating for 3 years. However, he was afraid they were too different to be able to coexist together, and Jaehyun was terrified of that fact because he wanted to be with Yuta.

In an effort to try to help his friend out, Johnny had asked him what would make Yuta the happiest and Jaehyun sincerely answered “getting married.”

Johnny had been baffled because as far as he knew, Jaehyun didn’t even know Yuta wanted to get married given he had never talked about it with his boyfriend. But Jaehyun had explained that, despite his boyfriend believing otherwise, he wasn’t that dense.

Yuta always cried when watching movies in which the main couple got engaged, he loved watching famous people getting married, and he had a whole stash of “Perfect Wedding” magazines in one of the boxes under the bed. Jaehyun very well knew what his boyfriend wanted, and he felt quite guilty because after the ‘incident’ Yuta had thrown away his magazines and had stopped watching corny rom-coms.

If he was being honest with himself, Jaehyun truly thought that getting married was a waste of time and money, a mere formality people would partake in because they liked to show off. After being so many years with Yuta, however, Jaehyun started to change his mind. Suddenly, although he didn’t share the sentiment, he could understand why people would want to get married.

And soon he started questioning himself, would it be the worst thing in the world to get married? Jaehyun didn’t particularly care about such things, but the mere thought of putting a ring on Yuta’s finger made his heart shake. The mere idea of making Yuta happy always made Jaehyun’s heart burst with excitement. He thrived on making his boyfriend smile.

Johnny, being always level-headed, had informed Jaehyun that getting married was a serious issue, it wasn’t something that could be easily undone. And it wasn’t a solution for whatever problems Yuta and he had. It wasn’t a band-aid that would patch up things between them and, on the contrary, it could only make things worse.

Jaehyun knew that much, and he had told Johnny so. Getting married wasn’t Jaehyun’s way of trying to solve his crumbling relationship with Yuta, it was a promise. It was Jaehyun’s form of telling Yuta that no matter how shaky things got between them, Jaehyun would always love Yuta. That he wasn’t willing to give up on them because things got rough. That no matter what, he would always prioritize being happy with Yuta. That he was the person Jaehyun wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

The younger had been surprised when all of a sudden, Johnny burst out crying, tightly hugging his friend. _“You’re going to make Yuta so happy, man. This is the most open you’ve been with me, and I’m so damn happy for you. It’s like even I want to propose to Yuta.”_ Jaehyun had awkwardly laughed and patted his giant friend on the back. Johnny had always been a bit emotional and empathetic when it came to others’ people's feelings. Even if it was a bit embarrassing, Jaehyun was grateful.

Johnny had taken Jaehyun to Rissing & Lawrence and told him about the time Yuta helped him pick out his and Taeyong’s rings. The owners were overly excited to know that their customer’s friend, the one who had been incredibly excited about the rings, was going to get married soon, too. They even recalled how his big eyes had lit up prettily when he saw the pear-shaped diamond ring, and how frightened he had looked when they asked him if he wanted to try it on.

Jaehyun was already feeling quite awful with the retelling of the story, but then the owners carried on and said that sometimes they could see Yuta coming to the shop window to stare at the ring for a minute.

“We thought he hadn’t bought the ring because he was short of money, and he looked at the ring with so much love we were about to offer him a discount and all,” the kind lady had said.

Jaehyun felt like the shittiest boyfriend in the whole world and he couldn’t help but hiding his face in his hands.

“I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he comes and sees that his ring isn’t on display! He is going to be so happy to know that he is boyfriend is going to propose to him.”

Johnny and Jaehyun had laughed awkwardly at the statement. The jewellery-makers were unaware of Jaehyun and Yuta’s situation, and they decided that it was best if it stayed that way. Going the extra mile, Jaehyun had kindly asked them to keep it as a surprise.

If Yuta came to the shop and asked about the ring, the owners should feign ignorance or lie and say that it had been bought by a couple or something. It seemed the owners were excited to play the part, so Jaehyun didn’t have to worry about it.

Jaehyun thought his boyfriend really did have incredible taste. The ring was exquisite and it would look so good on Yuta, he couldn’t wait to slip it on his soon-to-be fiancé.

Now the problem was when to propose. At first, Jaehyun had thought about proposing once things were better between him and Yuta, however, the moment Yuta started saying all of those things about Jaehyun not loving him like he did, he panicked.

He didn’t want to wait, he didn’t want to make his boyfriend suffer anymore. God, he hadn’t even realised how miserable Yuta had been feeling, he was the worst ever. When he had watched Yuta sliding miserably to the floor in a pool of tears, Jaehyun’s heart literally broke. He had reduced his boyfriend to such a state and he would never forgive himself if he didn’t let his boyfriend know how much he really loved him.

“God, I’m sorry I was such an asshole, I swear I will never make you feel like that ever again.”

Yuta couldn’t even process his apology, too stunned by the sudden revelations.

“And maybe proposing in the middle of an argument isn’t the most romantic thing ever. I’m sorry about that, too.” Jaehyun continued, softly caressing his thumb over his fiancé’s knuckles, feeling self-conscious about his lack of good timing.

“Stop,” Yuta finally said, surprising Jaehyun. “Stop apologizing, you weren’t the only at fault in this mess. I also got mad at you for stupid things, I also said things I didn’t mean. You always try your best for me, sorry I said you didn’t. I’m sorry I said if it weren’t for me this relationship wouldn’t last because that’s not true. Jaehyun, I love you.” Yuta smiled softly, looking at his boyfriends lovingly. “And I want us to work, okay? So from now on, let’s promise to communicate with each other more and let’s try to not get mad, okay?”

Jaehyun nodded, feeling his chest swell with pure love and affection. God, how could it be that Jaehyun even thought about not marrying such a wonderful person?

“Also,not to be mean, but I didn’t even expect us to get engaged. You could have proposed to me in the dirty bathroom of a gas station and I would’ve said ‘yes’ all the same,” Yuta reassured his fiancé, resting his head on his shoulder and admiring his sparkling ring.

_So pretty._

“You really make me the happiest man on earth, baby. God, Jaehyun I still can’t believe this.” he carried on, still mesmerized by the idea that they were going to get married.

Jaehyun just put his arm around Yuta’s shoulder and placed a kiss on the top his head.

“You called me baby,” Yuta teased, circling his arms around Jaehyun’s waist, cuddling further into his embrace. “You should call me that more.”

Jaehyun snorted, albeit a bit embarrassed at having slipped like that.

“I’m marrying you, Yuta, don’t push it.”

{-}

“Come on, Jaehyun. You cannot not dance, it’s a wedding!” Yuta insisted for the nth time that night. All the other couples who had been invited to Taeyong and Johnny’s wedding were currently slow-dancing on the dance floor, the newlywed couple in the middle of it, swaying softly from side to say.

“Yuta, you already know this, I don’t dance. I don’t know why you are insisting,” came the reply. Jaehyun sighed at seeing his fiancé’s eyebrows furrowed. Really, it’s not like he wanted to be a jerk, but he did have two left feet and he wasn’t about to embarrass himself in his best friend’s wedding.

“I don’t care, I’ll guide you. Come on, please?”

“Yuta, you-”

“We have to practice.” The Japanese man stopped Jaehyun’s reply, crossing his arms. “Jaehyun, you are going to slow dance with me in our wedding, so it’s best if we start practising now.”

Jaehyun sighed and held his head between his hands. Yuta had been using that excuse way too often, _You should learn how to do the laundry, Jae. I’m not going to do it all the time. Since we are going to be husband and husband we should divide the chores evenly_ or _Jae, if we are to be married you should know that Aiko needs to be taken for a walk twice a day_ , _Baby, you know I love your desserts but we don’t want to fatten up for the wedding so from now on the only dessert I’ll accept in this household is fruit._

He wasn’t going to lie, Jaehyun absolutely loved that Yuta was so ecstatic about the wedding. He glowed and Jaehyun couldn’t even understand how he hadn’t wanted to get married. It was incredibly adorable and Jaehyun had never felt so smitten in his entire life.

“Alright,” he conceded. After all, Jaehyun was no fool and he could recognize a lost battle. “Don’t get mad if I step on your feet,” he warned Yuta in a teasing tone and grabbed him by the hand to lead him to the dance floor.

Once he found a spot he deemed safe enough from prying eyes, he took Yuta by the waist and, with his free hand, interlaced their fingers. Jaehyun let a little laugh when he saw his fiancé’s surprised face.

“I know this much from all those films you made me watch,” he explained.

Yuta gifted him a wide smile and, after kissing Jaehyun’s lips briefly, he started swaying softly, moving his feet from side to side.

“Come on, baby, it’s not that hard. Just follow my lead, okay?”

Jaehyun nodded and proceeded to look down to watch his feet moving, trying to match Yuta’s moves. His eyebrows furrowed and Yuta giggled, heart full of love at seeing his lover trying so hard for him. The dance was pretty simple since it only involved swaying from side to side, and Jaehyun rapidly grew used to the lazy movements.

“Jae,” Yuta called him. The taller man looked up just in time to see a tiny, content smile bloom on his handsome features. “I love you,” he whispered softly, meant only for Jaehyun’s ears. “I really love you,” he continued, cheeks tinted rose. Yuta then pressed a light kiss on his fiancé’s lips and rested his head on his broad shoulders, sighing contently.

Yuta’s hair tickled Jaehyun’s chin, but he couldn't bring himself to mind it in the least. Not when he had the man he would die for him safely wrapped around his arms and the promise of a life together shining prettily under the dancefloor lights on Yuta’s finger.

Jaehyun kissed Yuta’s hair and rested his cheek on his crown.

“I love you, too. _Baby_.”

  

 

**Author's Note:**

> Congrats if you made it here! Thank you so much for reading!! I love YuJae and there aren't many fics about them, so here's my little contribution. I hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> First of all, I want to thank the greatest beta in the world, Eden <3 Once again, she has helped me lots! Thanks for putting up with my stories, honey~
> 
> So, I had been thinking about YuJae and proposal fics in general and then Edie went and wrote a short drabble in her twitter and I was like "that's it, I NEED to write yujae", and now here we are. Sorry baby girl for keeping you in the dark abt this one lmao ily
> 
> Please, don't forget to leave a comment, I'd love to know what you all think about it!!
> 
> In case any of you want to follow me, my twitter is @_pequinessa 
> 
> Have a great idea!


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